1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:02,000 It's been a busy morning already, huh? 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:05,360 Yeah. Well, let's talk about our 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,160 fears. Go ahead and go to Luke 22. 4 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,840 You know, I'm a pastor, and pastors love golf. 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:19,120 At least that's what I hear. But I don't know who here 6 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:21,200 wouldn't know who Tiger Woods is. 7 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,920 But also, Tiger Woods isn't just known for golf. 8 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,760 Back in November of 2009, Tiger Woods was in the news, which 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,920 wasn't weird, but he was in the news for something different for 10 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:37,440 the first time. Tiger Woods. 11 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,800 I mean many people would claim that Tiger Woods is the greatest 12 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,600 golfer of all time. I I am not that well versed in 13 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,160 it to have an opinion so I can only regurgitate what I read to 14 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:51,480 you from the Internet. But he was, and probably still 15 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:56,160 is to a degree, a Global Icon. He had 14 major championships, 16 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:58,520 hundreds of weeks. He was ranked number one in the 17 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:00,360 world. He had endorsements with Nike 18 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,800 and Gatorade and Gillette and so many other companies. 19 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:08,840 And when the commentators would discuss these golf tournaments, 20 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:12,920 they wouldn't normally discuss who do you think is going to 21 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:14,320 win? They would normally say, how 22 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:16,320 much do you think Tiger will win by? 23 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,800 I mean, he was that good. And then one morning in 24 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,840 November, he ran his car into a fire hydrant. 25 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:26,960 And people thought, that's weird. 26 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:29,000 And what do you instantly think? You think, well, somebody was 27 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,360 impaired or something happened. Well, there was no impairment 28 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:33,960 there. He was as as the weeks would 29 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:37,560 unfold, trying to escape his wife, who was swinging a Golf 30 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:42,720 Club at him. Stories of infidelity and and 31 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,080 all these different things started leaking out. 32 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,240 And one by one, Nike's gone, Gatorade is gone, Gillette is 33 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,560 gone. The greatest thing that Tiger 34 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,320 feared happened, and what's crazy about it is this was the 35 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,920 greatest thing he feared, but he didn't act like he feared it 36 00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,160 because if he was really afraid of it, he would avoid doing the 37 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,760 things that would cost him his endorsements for Tiger. 38 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:06,800 He was afraid and he has said this in documentaries and 39 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:08,440 interviews. It was the one thing he dreaded 40 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,800 happening and it happened so much faster than his legacy was 41 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,160 built. And this is the point. 42 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:18,400 You can spend a long time building something up, but if 43 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,720 you are still ruled by your fear, it only takes 1 moment for 44 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,640 everything to fall. And what I mean by that is this. 45 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:28,920 He was ruled by his fear. So instead of being guided by 46 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:31,520 his fear and avoiding the things that would have brought about 47 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:36,040 his own mess, he ended up being ruled by it. 48 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,120 Which meant, how do I make sure nobody finds out? 49 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,400 But eventually, if that's your mindset, people find out. 50 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,240 God's really good like that. Sin crouches at your door. 51 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,240 It desires to have you. What's the scripture say? 52 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,920 But you must master it and you can. 53 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:54,720 God gives you the ability. Tiger Woods, I mean, out on the 54 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:58,040 the golf course, he was just the picture of perfection and 55 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,160 control and poise until that happened. 56 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,640 Failure under pressure has a way of revealing what comfort has 57 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:08,920 concealed. And most of us in this room 58 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:12,840 today or on the live stream probably of things that we're 59 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,040 afraid of coming out because we're afraid of how people would 60 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,440 look at us or we're afraid of what the ripples would be. 61 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaking of the live stream, you'll be praying for my brother 62 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,600 Michael Willis, part of this worship team who's watching at 63 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,160 the hospital right now. Been there this past week. 64 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:29,120 So you'll be praying for Michael and everybody. 65 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,360 Can you just be like, loud and creepy and tell him hi on the 66 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:36,800 live stream? So we love you, Mike. 67 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:40,480 I just want you to know that this is where we're headed in 68 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:42,200 this series. We're going to talk about things 69 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,320 that are uncomfortable because we're not talking about the 70 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,400 failures of villains. We're talking about the failures 71 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:49,840 of people that if we lived in that day and age or if they 72 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,280 lived in this day and age, we would admire them. 73 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,360 And when they fall, we take it personally. 74 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,240 I mean, is there anybody that when Tiger Woods had his issue, 75 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,560 you know, back in O 9 and all, I mean, is there anybody who who 76 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,480 really like took it personally because he looked like he 77 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:07,720 represented things well? What about when a politician 78 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,480 promises something and I know this doesn't happen often, but 79 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:16,320 they don't see it through? You feel let down. 80 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:19,440 What about when your spouse promises something and then it 81 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,000 doesn't happen? It's hard because we feel let 82 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,120 down and expectations. They'll get to you. 83 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,600 We're looking at Peter this week and we're talking about fear. 84 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,080 That's the primary way that Peter failed. 85 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,760 And a lot of people know this, but Peter was not a fringe 86 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,040 follower of Jesus. He was he was not a quiet extra 87 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:40,600 in the background of the gospels. 88 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,760 He was central to the mission. He's borderline in some episodes 89 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,320 of the Chosen, the Co main character, because he led so 90 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,000 many of the other disciples, but he was absolutely part of 91 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,680 Jesus's inner circle. Even amongst the disciples. 92 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:56,640 There were three that he was closer to with James and John. 93 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,200 And then Peter he was extra close to. 94 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,000 And so his background, just so you know, is he's a fisherman in 95 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,000 Galilee. That means that he was strong. 96 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:06,920 He would have been physically strong because they had to haul 97 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,160 in the Nets by hand. He was accustomed to long nights 98 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:11,840 working hard, working with his hands. 99 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:15,000 And we know that he was married because Jesus does heal his 100 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:16,480 mother-in-law. It's hard to have one of those 101 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,040 without marriage. Dare I say impossible. 102 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,040 When he left his Nets to follow Jesus, He was not walking away 103 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:25,680 from nothing. And I want you to put your 104 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,920 mindset into Peter's mindset this morning, now that we know 105 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,760 that he's married and that he was good at a career and he had 106 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,440 a skill set. When he walked away from that 107 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,200 career, he was not just taking his own life and gambling it. 108 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,720 He was gambling the life of maybe a wife and kids and 109 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,600 providing for them. Well, I'm going to go and I'm 110 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:46,960 going to follow this rabbi. I'm going to do something brand 111 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,400 new. And if I do it, maybe it'll work 112 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:51,000 out and be great and maybe it won't. 113 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:58,400 Peter was also not known for being timid when Jesus 1st 114 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,520 called him in Luke 5. Peter fell at the feet of Jesus 115 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,360 after the miraculous catching of of fish and he said go away from 116 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,440 me Lord, I'm such a sinful man. That's his opening line to 117 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:11,320 Jesus. Hey Peter, I want you to follow 118 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:13,200 me, not me. I'm too sinful. 119 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,640 And Peter thankfully didn't hear Jesus say Oh well I didn't 120 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,840 realize that James how about you? 121 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,840 Peter already knew what his shortcomings were and he was 122 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:31,080 bold and he was brash and he was very impulsive. 123 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:33,600 We talked about that a couple weeks ago. 124 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,400 But because he was aware, he never really backed away from 125 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,480 his call. When Jesus asked the disciples, 126 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,800 who do you say that I am? It was Peter who said, I say 127 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,280 you're the Messiah, you're the Son of the living God. 128 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:52,680 When the storm was raging and and Jesus walked on water, who 129 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,360 was it that stepped out of the boat and also walked on water? 130 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,080 It was Peter. He had bold faith because he was 131 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,160 a bold man. He was impulsive and outspoken 132 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,520 and passionate and he did not lack courage. 133 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,640 Jesus even renamed him. Originally his name was not 134 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,440 known as Peter. He was Simon. 135 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,880 And then he named him Cephas, which means Peter or rock. 136 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,720 In the same way that you talk about things getting, it's like 137 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,400 etymology of words. Things get petrified rocks. 138 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:27,720 Petra meant a rock, right? And this is important because 139 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,040 rabbis were known for renaming their disciples. 140 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,320 Sometimes they would give them a nickname that spoken to their 141 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,160 destiny. And when he called him rock, it 142 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,360 was significant. I mean, to have Jesus give you 143 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,800 the Gold Star and say, hey, way to go, buddy. 144 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,600 I mean, that's different than your parents. 145 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,640 And for three years, Peter walked with Jesus. 146 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:51,040 What happened in those three years? 147 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,400 Just think of any of the miracles before the crucifixion. 148 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,400 He saw the blind receive sight. He saw demons flee from people. 149 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,680 He watched crowds grow, and he watched religious leaders get 150 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,440 pretty angry. He heard teaching that turned 151 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:05,960 the world upside down and still is turning the world upside 152 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:07,920 down. He saw children raised from the 153 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,720 dead, and he witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. 154 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,200 He had a front row seat to the unfolding Kingdom of God. 155 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,560 And so by the time we arrive here in Luke 22, Peter is not 156 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:20,360 what you would call a casual believer. 157 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,400 And even though we say seeing is believing, it doesn't always 158 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:29,040 manifest into action or faith. He's invested and he's convinced 159 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:33,240 in Jesus, but you know who? He's not convinced of himself. 160 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,799 And I want you to know that the measure of faith that you have 161 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:39,039 in Jesus is wonderful. You should have more faith in 162 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:40,400 the Lord than you do in yourself. 163 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,919 But if all of your faith is in the Lord and you have no faith 164 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:47,080 in what the Lord can accomplish through you, then you're going 165 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,480 to be the biggest hindrance to God actually doing something 166 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,200 through you on this earth. It's called fear. 167 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,160 And today we speak against it. Just a few verses though, in 168 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:06,520 Luke 22, verses 31 through 34. And as you get there, I want you 169 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,600 to know the night of the Last Supper, which we just talked 170 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,560 about with communion, Jesus is talking of betrayal. 171 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:15,960 Jesus breaks bread, calls it His body, He lifts a cup, and He 172 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,080 calls it His blood. And we have the advantage of 173 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,640 looking backwards now, but the disciples didn't fully 174 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,440 understand it, but they could feel the shift. 175 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:27,000 I feel confident in that. I want you to imagine you're one 176 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:28,600 of those disciples. And for the first time at a 177 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:30,960 Passover meal, they would have had at least three of them with 178 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,480 him. He says, now this cup is my 179 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:35,560 blood. It's poured out as a new 180 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:37,840 covenant for you. Maybe you kind of get the 181 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:39,960 direction he's going, but you don't fully understand it. 182 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,520 But you can feel the tension because you can tell that 183 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,720 something dark is coming. And it is at this Passover table 184 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,560 at the first Communion where this moment happens. 185 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:55,880 And in verse 31, Jesus looks at Peter and says, Simon, Simon, 186 00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:00,000 Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 187 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,200 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith 188 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,560 should not fail. So when you have repented and 189 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:13,800 turned to me again, strengthen your brothers how good Jesus is. 190 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,040 He doesn't even set him up to think that he'll never fail. 191 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,120 I mean, it's kind of the standard joke there. 192 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:21,960 But I mean, every time I read it, I think about it. 193 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:23,800 You know, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. 194 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:25,200 I'd be like, you told him no, right? 195 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:29,920 He said so. I've been praying that your 196 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:34,040 faith would not fail. But when you've repented and 197 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,560 turned to me again, strengthen your brothers even right here. 198 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:38,920 I want you to understand something. 199 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,920 He says. Peter, something's coming for 200 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:48,040 you #1 #2 You're going to fail and #3 that's not the end of 201 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:51,080 your story. When you return to me, 202 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,880 strengthen your brothers. Peter said, Lord, I'm ready to 203 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,040 go to prison with you and even to die with you. 204 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:02,040 And Jesus said it's so famous. Jesus said in verse 34, Peter, 205 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:06,520 let me tell you something, before the rooster crows 206 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,560 tomorrow morning, you will deny 3 times that you even know me. 207 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:15,560 Put yourself in Jesus's sandals for a moment. 208 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,040 Number one disciple, probably one of his best friends that 209 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,160 he's ever had. You're going to act like you 210 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,640 don't even know me during the darkest time I'm going to walk 211 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:25,960 through. But thankfully, Jesus doesn't 212 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:27,400 have bitterness in him like we do. 213 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,760 It's in this upper room that Peter does what Peter does. 214 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,880 He speaks boldly. Hey, Satan's coming for you. 215 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,040 But I'm going to need you to recover from it. 216 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,920 And I'm going to need you to to strengthen your brothers. 217 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,920 Oh, that's all right. I can take what the devil's got 218 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:45,600 coming for me. I'd go to jail for you. 219 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:51,280 I'd even die for you. OK, let's give it a day. 220 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,560 It's that kind of confidence that is born not from sin, but 221 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:01,320 from a great affection. Parents, think about what you'd 222 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,280 be willing to do for your kids. Friends, think about what you'd 223 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:06,240 be willing to do for the best friends that you've got. 224 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:08,400 Think about what you'd be willing to do for your family or 225 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:09,840 the people who've always been there for you. 226 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,280 It all sounds good. What's the saying that we have 227 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:14,520 now? I'd take a bullet for that 228 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,280 person and we all like to think we would. 229 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,680 And then faced with the moment and maybe we would and maybe we 230 00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:21,760 wouldn't. It's a bold thing to say, but 231 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:23,200 it's different when the moment comes. 232 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,640 So Jesus looks at him after he says, this is how much I love 233 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:29,040 you. I'd go to jail, I'd die for you. 234 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,680 And he's like, you're going to actually ignore the fact that 235 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:35,280 you even know me. So now put yourself back in 236 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:42,640 Peter's flip flops, OK? After three years of loyalty, 237 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,040 declarations of devotions, training, seeing all these 238 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:48,920 miracles, now you're told that you, not that you might 239 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:50,600 struggle, but that you're going to fail and it's going to be 240 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,320 pretty public. This is the moment in the gospel 241 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,200 that we're stepping into. This is the confident disciple, 242 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,720 the loyal friend standing on the edge of a knight that will test 243 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:03,360 him more than any storm on a Sea of Galilee ever could. 244 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,520 And as we come into the Scripture and we read the rest 245 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:08,920 of it, I want you to understand where we're about to go. 246 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,400 The arrest in Gethsemane has now already taken place. 247 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:13,440 So now we're moving on from the Passover meal. 248 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:15,720 Jesus has gone to the garden. He's been praying. 249 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,600 He's sweating blood. He's now been arrested. 250 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:20,880 And this is where the fear really enters the story. 251 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:23,840 We talked about it just a few weeks ago. 252 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,200 What does Peter do in the garden as Jesus is being arrested? 253 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,360 He swings a sword, right? He sleeps. 254 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:32,320 And then when he finally wakes up, he swings a sword. 255 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:34,920 He cuts off an ear and Jesus like, oh great, I'm getting 256 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:36,440 arrested. One more thing I got to do, put 257 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,160 the ear back on like Mr. Potato Head. 258 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:45,440 And then my interpretation. And then and then Jesus has to 259 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,880 go on through this sham of a trial, getting beaten, having 260 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:50,200 the crown of thorns, all of this. 261 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,280 And where are his disciples? They're all scattered. 262 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,000 Those that are even close enough to see it are seeing it from a 263 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,520 distance. So what do you think Peter would 264 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:01,480 be afraid of there? I want you to think about it 265 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,440 before I talk about it. What would Peter be afraid of 266 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:05,640 that night? Because in one moment he's bold 267 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,120 enough to swing a sword. But Jesus says don't do that. 268 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:09,400 That's not what we're doing tonight. 269 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:14,600 So what would he be afraid of? Maybe he's afraid of getting 270 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:16,200 arrested. Maybe he's afraid of getting 271 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:17,760 beaten. You know what I think he was 272 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,000 most afraid of? Now you want me to do it on my 273 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:21,760 own? Jesus. 274 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,840 I think he was pretty frantic to defend Jesus because he always 275 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:27,960 wanted to be right next to him. And let's be honest, if you had 276 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,520 the privilege of walking with a physical Jesus, I think he'd be 277 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,200 like, Lord, I'll go wherever you go. 278 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,800 He's like, Oh yeah, transfigured into heaven. 279 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:39,320 Think about the believers when he did that. 280 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:43,480 Now what do you do? See, we should be equipped 281 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,520 because the same spirit that lived inside of Jesus and 282 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:48,720 equipped him to do the great works is the same Spirit that 283 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,720 lives inside of you and I. We should be equipped to go and 284 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,920 do the works that Jesus did, but we want to just check one more 285 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:58,800 time. Hey, before I do this, this is 286 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,360 what you want me to do, right? Jesus, he's already equipped 287 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:02,640 you. He's given you the wisdom and 288 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:04,160 the discernment to make these decisions. 289 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,720 He's given you the spirit of truth and he doesn't even expect 290 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,000 you to be perfect. He didn't even expect Jesus or 291 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,880 Peter to be perfect, but he expects you to be obedient. 292 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:17,920 So I just want to ask you this question before we, we head 293 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,360 towards another scripture. What does fear reveal in you 294 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,960 when pressure rises up? Don't say it out loud. 295 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,400 I mean, unless you want to. I'm not talking about in worship 296 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:33,240 settings, not in Liberty Church. Because when we come in here and 297 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,280 we're afraid and we're in the middle of maybe like the second 298 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,320 or the third song and, and everybody's voices are raised 299 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:40,720 and we're like, we're, we're like, man, we can do this. 300 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,920 I'm talking about when it's Tuesday or it's 3:00 AM on a 301 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,320 random day and you wake up with anxiety and you start to feel 302 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,520 fear. What is it that it pulls out of 303 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:51,200 you that you don't always know is there? 304 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:53,400 That's what we're coming for today. 305 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,000 The first thing we're going to talk about is what fear reveals. 306 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,760 Because before we can talk about any resurrection, any 307 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,640 restoration, we have to talk about what fear unveils. 308 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:04,720 I love that even fear itself is a tool. 309 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,840 What's the beginning of wisdom? According to the book of, of 310 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,600 Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 311 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:13,160 Now, what's the fear of the Lord? 312 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:15,640 It's not fear that the sky fingers going to come down and 313 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:17,520 thump you or throw a lightning bolt at you. 314 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,640 We're talking about this holy reverence that he deserves your 315 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:22,400 very best. I mean, you could just think 316 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,080 about like when when you wanted to act right because mom or dad 317 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:26,840 was going to come home and you didn't want to disappoint them. 318 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,080 But it's with pure motives and it's like a bajillion times 319 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,320 worse. Reverence for the Lord, 320 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,720 understanding that you respect his view so much that his view 321 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,560 guides your life. That's a healthy fear. 322 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:44,120 But as we approach the next scripture, and we will be in 323 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:48,120 Luke 22 still, I want you to know that the arrest in 324 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:53,880 Gethsemane has happened. Everything is different, and now 325 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,200 Peter's going to get tested because courage in the garden is 326 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:57,600 different than courage in the courtyard. 327 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,960 Jesus has now been taken away. The disciples are all scattered, 328 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:04,880 and there's adrenaline from all the action that has now faded. 329 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,079 And the crowd that used to come around Jesus that was so curious 330 00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:12,240 and wanted to see miracles is not curious anymore in here. 331 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,960 It's easy to feel bold because everybody here is curious about 332 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:17,720 Jesus. But when you get into a 333 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:19,640 different setting, and maybe that's work or maybe it's a 334 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,920 family meal, those are always peaceful, right? 335 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,119 Or or some sort of setting, you get into one where maybe it's 336 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,000 hostile to the gospel or hostile to the Lord. 337 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,680 What comes out there? Is it the same stuff that comes 338 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:33,480 out in here? For most of us, that answer is 339 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,720 no. Courage in the garden is 340 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:38,120 different than courage in the courtyard. 341 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,880 So Peter follows still, but he follows at a distance, which, by 342 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,880 the way, is already telling for a lot of believers. 343 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,560 They'll follow Jesus closely in here, and then they almost like 344 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:51,920 code, switch from their Christianese into their regular, 345 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:54,200 you know, obscenities. And they'll leave here. 346 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:57,560 And then they'll end up speaking in a different way with 347 00:17:57,560 --> 00:17:59,800 different people because now they're still following Jesus. 348 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:02,120 Jesus, I follow him in my heart. And Jesus and I, we got an 349 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:03,760 understanding. Well, I'm glad you all do. 350 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:07,560 But we follow from a distance, don't we? 351 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:10,160 So Peter is following from a distance. 352 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:11,360 He wants to see what's going to happen. 353 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:14,480 Because if Jesus overthrows them, if Jesus all of a sudden 354 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,560 like just hulks out and throws these guys off of them, he wants 355 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:18,960 to run up there with that sword again. 356 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:22,840 This time I'll have better aim. But that's not what happened. 357 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,480 So he's watching this happen. He's watching this sham of a 358 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,440 trial. He's watching his savior get 359 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:32,280 beaten. And I think, I think it's this 360 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,720 moment that really makes Peter's story so painfully relatable to 361 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,040 us. He's going to betray Jesus. 362 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,840 And betrayal doesn't always announce itself as betrayal. 363 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,880 A lot of times it shows up as being overly cautious. 364 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,960 It feels like wisdom. It convinces us that a little 365 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,360 distance is reasonable. But if we would dare compare 366 00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:56,760 what's happening with Peter to us, the places we've been in our 367 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,080 lives, Peter's not walking away from Jesus because he stopped 368 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,120 loving him. He's not denying Jesus because 369 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:04,640 he suddenly rejected him. And he's got a theology change. 370 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:07,440 He's standing in the courtyard because fear has started 371 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:09,560 negotiating with his devotion to the Lord. 372 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:12,720 And a lot of times we know something is the right thing to 373 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:18,840 do, but fear comes up and fear wins and it's a small sin as if 374 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,520 there is such a thing. It's something small that we 375 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,440 compromise on because we know that God is great and his grace 376 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,400 is is so sufficient, right? If grace is an ocean, we're all 377 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,640 sinking and that the lyric and we know that he's going to take 378 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,160 care of us. Do not take advantage of the 379 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,520 Lord's mercy just because you know he's merciful and patient 380 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,120 or let's go King James. He's long-suffering with us, 381 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:44,880 isn't he? Doesn't mean you take advantage 382 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:47,000 of it. Who? 383 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,160 Who would be proud of that in any human relationship? 384 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:51,240 You're going to do that? Won't your wife hate it? 385 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:53,040 Yeah, but she'll forgive me. It'll be fine. 386 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,080 I always get what I want in this relationship. 387 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:57,480 You'd be like, yeah, you. Doesn't sound good there, does 388 00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:58,800 it? No, it's all right. 389 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:00,200 God wants me to do something different. 390 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,200 But I'm going to do what I want and he'll forgive me because 391 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:03,800 that's who he is and that's who I am. 392 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:07,080 Man. It got quiet again. 393 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,040 All right. So now he's watching from a 394 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,160 distance, and Jesus told him earlier that evening that he 395 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,040 would deny him three times before the rooster crowed. 396 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:18,600 Peter couldn't wrap his head around that. 397 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:24,400 He couldn't comprehend it. Before we read what happens 398 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,200 next, we should allow the weight of the moment sit with us for a 399 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,600 minute. What does fear expose in us when 400 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,600 faith becomes costly? When something shifts inside of 401 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,360 us when following Jesus threatens our reputation or our 402 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:39,600 security or our relationships or our comfort. 403 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,640 And most of the time for many of us, it's not as simple as just 404 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,280 saying, well, I believe in Jesus and you don't. 405 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:47,960 So I'm taking a stand. Most of the time it's from 406 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,480 Christian to Christian and having the guts to say to 407 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,760 another believer, I don't think that's right actually. 408 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:54,760 And I still love you and I'm still in your life. 409 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,760 But I don't think that's right because we're afraid of loss. 410 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,640 We're still in Luke 22. Let's go to verse 54. 411 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,680 So they arrested him and led him to the high priest's home, and 412 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,520 Peter followed at a distance. The guards lit a fire in the 413 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,120 middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them 414 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:17,880 there. And the servant girl noticed him 415 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,440 in the fire light and began staring at him. 416 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:25,160 Finally she said this man was one of Jesus's followers, but 417 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,440 Peter denied it. Woman, he said. 418 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,160 I don't even know him. I think it's interesting too. 419 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,160 I bet he enjoyed the notoriety of being recognized as somebody 420 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,360 who travelled with Jesus, at least until this moment. 421 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:40,600 Verse 58. After a while, someone else 422 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,280 looked at him and said, you must be one of them. 423 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:49,520 No, man, I'm not, Peter retorted verse 59 about an hour later. 424 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:51,400 So this is happening over a sequence of time. 425 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,120 About an hour later, someone else insisted this must be one 426 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:55,920 of them because he's a Galilean too. 427 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:58,960 But Peter said, man, I don't know what you're talking about. 428 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,400 And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster 429 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,960 crowed. This is about as cinematic a 430 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,000 picture as the Gospels get. Verse 61. 431 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,320 At that moment, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. 432 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,200 And suddenly the Lord's words flashed through Peter's mind. 433 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,080 Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you'll deny 3 434 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,480 times that you even know me. And Peter left the courtyard 435 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:25,440 weeping bitterly. When you sit with this scene 436 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,320 long enough and you begin to notice something here, it'll 437 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,320 change you. This is what makes it so much 438 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:35,000 more sad. Peter doesn't deny Jesus because 439 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,920 he's being interrogated by the authorities. 440 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,120 He doesn't deny Jesus because he's sitting up at a stand and 441 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:42,480 now he's got his fear of public speaking in front of a bunch of 442 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,720 people. He doesn't deny it due to 443 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:47,120 pressure. He denies that he knows Jesus to 444 00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:50,880 strangers because so much is unknown now, and if there is one 445 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,640 thing that will push you from honest faith in the Lord over 446 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,120 into compromise, it is fear of the unknown. 447 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,840 If I do this, I don't know what will happen. 448 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,640 That's where trust comes in. God knows what's going to 449 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,960 happen. So you live by the standards 450 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,520 that He lays out for you, and you let God shape the 451 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,160 consequences. It preaches really well and it 452 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:14,520 lives really hard. What begins as a simple 453 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,280 question, weren't you with him, quickly becomes a mirror that 454 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:19,480 Peter doesn't want to look into. Because if you notice, those 455 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,840 denials get harder and harder and they become a little more 456 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:23,440 emphatic. And sometimes that's what we do, 457 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:24,760 too. We get a little bit louder and a 458 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:26,840 little more emphatic and defending what we're doing 459 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,840 because, you know, maybe then they'll believe us that it's the 460 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:31,240 right thing. But fear has a way of 461 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:32,960 escalating. Once it's given a voice to 462 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,400 speak, fear can inform you. But if you give it the 463 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,920 microphone, you ain't getting it back. 464 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:43,360 How many of you all remember when Pastor Marsha was here 465 00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:44,800 before she passed away years ago? 466 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:47,120 You would not get that microphone out of her hand, 467 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:49,400 right? You would not. 468 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,120 And if you tried, you might. You might come back without a 469 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:58,520 hand, right? That's what fear does, convinces 470 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:02,800 us that preservation is wisdom and tells us that it's not 471 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,360 abandonment, it's just a strategy. 472 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,080 So in Peter's mind, he must have been thinking about 1000 things. 473 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,040 If I'm identified, then I can be arrested. 474 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,520 If I'm arrested, then here we are back to it. 475 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,080 What happens to my family? What happens to my wife? 476 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,240 What happens to my kids? What happens to those that rely 477 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,880 on me? Maybe, maybe, maybe I'm not 478 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,000 ready to go to the death. Now he starts questioning all of 479 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:28,160 this stuff and not one time do we see any sign of him doubting 480 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:33,800 Jesus, only doubting himself. And I want to again put this in 481 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,680 context for you. How long before this moment of 482 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,760 denial was it that he had the conversation with Jesus where he 483 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,680 said I'd follow you to jail or to the OR to the death? 484 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,640 It's hours, just hours. We're talking the same day. 485 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:50,680 So what does he do when he locks eyes with Jesus? 486 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,280 Jesus doesn't even need to say anything. 487 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,120 He walks away and he weeps bitterly. 488 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,120 There's genuine repentance in Peter when this happens. 489 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,520 That's a man confronting the painful realization that he's 490 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,000 not as strong as he thought he was. 491 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,400 And for a few moments, I want you to consider how often we 492 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,040 follow at a distance when things become uncomfortable. 493 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:13,640 Since this is kind of a heavier message, let's talk about 494 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,400 Captain America for a moment. I had a lot of options here, OK? 495 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:19,880 But I want to talk about Chris Evans, who played Captain 496 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,000 America, especially since he's going to he's going to return as 497 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,040 Captain America this December to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 498 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,480 When he did the the audition and he was offered the role of 499 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:32,800 Captain America and I think most people think he made a really 500 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:36,040 good Steve Rogers, Captain America, unless you didn't watch 501 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:37,440 it and then you're like, I don't care about this. 502 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:39,440 Get to the next scripture. Be patient. 503 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,920 He was offered the job of Captain America and he turned it 504 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,680 down. He turned it down a couple 505 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,080 times. Actually, he pushed back a 506 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:50,440 couple times. Isn't that crazy? 507 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:52,360 Because he, he auditioned for it. 508 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,760 I mean, this is what he wanted. He said, I, I want the role of 509 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:57,800 Captain America. He travelled there. 510 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:00,400 He was recorded as auditioning for Captain America. 511 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,640 He memorized lines so he could be Captain America. 512 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,760 And they said, we think you'd be a great Captain America. 513 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,000 And he went, yeah, I don't think so. 514 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,360 How many times have we asked God to put us in a relationship or a 515 00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:13,040 season or a situation and then it shows up and we're like, 516 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:15,840 well, actually, Lord, I don't think I can rise to that 517 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:16,760 occasion. Now. 518 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,480 Eventually he said, yes. And do you know what he said 519 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:23,120 made the difference for him? He said the encouragement of 520 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:25,880 people around him. He wanted the role. 521 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,160 He knew he could get the role, but he was afraid of what people 522 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,600 would think once he got the role, once he actually stepped 523 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:36,160 into it, will people think that he did a good job or he didn't 524 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:37,600 do a good job? And I'm just going to tell you, 525 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:39,640 if you decide to pursue acting, that's probably something you 526 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:43,120 need to make your peace with. But it was the encouragement of 527 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:45,920 people around him. So when I talk about it earlier 528 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:47,160 this morning, encourage one another. 529 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,360 If you're feeling anxious about the things that are happening on 530 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:52,240 the world stage, that's not just Mr. Rogers. 531 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,320 Ah, this would be real nice if, if we would encourage each 532 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,280 other. No, it's, it's a godly 533 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,320 assignment to go out of your way to encourage people who are 534 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:01,560 feeling unsettled or unstable or weak. 535 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:04,880 And if you're feeling weak, it's OK. 536 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,760 We all feel weak. We just don't all admit it. 537 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,960 So encourage one another. Most of us have things that we 538 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:15,080 are terrified of. And for most of us, it's not 539 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,240 servant girls. In, in, in, in courtyards. 540 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,880 But we do have places where fear begins negotiating with our 541 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:24,640 devotion to God as well. So I want you to think about 542 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:26,360 this. What do you fear the most? 543 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:31,240 And when I say that, I'm not talking about spiders or clowns 544 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,280 or scary movies. I'm talking about the fears that 545 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:36,560 cut us to the bone. Things like this. 546 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,160 Think about this before we go into these couple of steps next. 547 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:41,960 Like the fear of losing someone that we love and realizing how 548 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:45,000 much of our stability is tied to their constant presence in our 549 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,080 life. How about the fear of a 550 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,840 financial collapse and discovering how tightly you 551 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:53,600 cling to control through that? How about the fear of being 552 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,240 exposed is not good enough? We're not spiritual enough, 553 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,480 We're not competent enough? Church is great, but can I just 554 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:01,680 see a show of hands for anybody who's ever felt like they're not 555 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:03,720 spiritual enough because they've compared themselves to somebody 556 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:05,840 at church? Look at this room full of 557 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,120 hypocrites. All right, my hand was up. 558 00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:14,120 I'm good. I've look, I've read a lot of 559 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:18,040 books, but not all of them, and you can't remember all of it. 560 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,280 And sometimes people will talk to me about theology and they're 561 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,400 like, well, I'm sure you've read blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 562 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,840 Not yet. It's on the list, but I'm going 563 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:29,400 to try. We all end up comparing 564 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:30,640 ourselves. How about the fear that if 565 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,520 people knew our actual thoughts, our actual struggles, or our 566 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,320 actual doubts, that we would lose their respect and therefore 567 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:41,240 lose them, right? Those fears, I want you to hear 568 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,120 me on this. Those fears do not make you a 569 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:47,360 bad Christian. They do make you human. 570 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:52,280 What matters for you and I today is what they reveal about you. 571 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:55,400 I think a lot of times we get hung up here. 572 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,440 God, how do I get rid of these fears? 573 00:28:58,080 --> 00:28:59,480 And he says, you're not going to. 574 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:01,800 No, I, I need to get rid of the fears. 575 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,680 You're not going to. I want you to see what they 576 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:06,360 reveal. You can get rid of what they 577 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,720 reveal. If you get rid of what they 578 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:13,680 reveal, the fear will subside. Peter's fear revealed that his 579 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,680 courage was still connected to his physical proximity to Jesus. 580 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,640 He was bold because Jesus was there. 581 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:23,920 Actually, you have the picture. I got an 8 year old son and 582 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:25,760 he'll talk Pretty bold if I'm standing there. 583 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,160 Imagine walking with Jesus and somebody comes against you. 584 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:34,240 You don't know who you're messing with. 585 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,200 Get him Jesus. Remember at one point he wasn't 586 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,520 even really received as they're traveling through towns and some 587 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,080 of his disciples are like, do you want us to call down fire on 588 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,720 them? That's not what we do. 589 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:54,240 OK Proverbs 2925 says fearing people is a dangerous trap, but 590 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:59,760 trusting the Lord means safety. I want you to understand this. 591 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:04,080 When we fear people and we put distance and we change who we 592 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,960 are because of their opinions, we do it because we want to feel 593 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,560 safe. This scripture said trusting the 594 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,840 Lord means safety. Actually, depending on your 595 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:15,760 translation, it may not see say trap. 596 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,120 It may say snare, which is a really great image because if 597 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,360 fearing people is a snare, what's a snare? 598 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:25,200 It's it's like what you always sub like Bugs Bunny catch people 599 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,040 with and Looney Tunes. It's like that loop on the 600 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:29,800 ground and they step in it and it grabs you and it gets tighter 601 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:31,800 the more you pull against it, it gets tighter. 602 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,120 And so fearing people is like a snare that gets tighter the more 603 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,840 that you struggle against it. So you have to trust in the Lord 604 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:44,000 for where you set your feet. So just a couple things here. 605 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,880 When you have a fear of man and it becomes primary, and this is 606 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,600 scary because I see it happen all the time in believers, when 607 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:56,960 fear of man is primary in your life, you will shape your 608 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:58,920 obedience to God around the approval of man. 609 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,720 And so God will tell you to do AB and C and you say A&B are 610 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,480 good, but until things are right with this person, I can't do C. 611 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,680 And this happens a lot of times. We'll read something that says 612 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,920 forgive as you have been forgiven and and and we'll have 613 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,200 conversations about this while I'm not ready to forgive them. 614 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:20,880 OK, but you did ask me what the Bible says and it said to 615 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:22,720 forgive. By the way, forgiveness doesn't 616 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,120 mean you're OK with what happened. 617 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,560 Literally nothing I've ever forgiven have I decided later on 618 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:28,680 you know what that was. OK? 619 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,680 I've never decided that, but obedience has freed me. 620 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,720 You will, in these situations, soften the truth with a friend 621 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,200 in order to avoid tension. You'll stay quiet when your 622 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,440 conviction wants you to say something and without knowing 623 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:46,920 it, you don't know you're doing this. 624 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,480 But you'll adjust your identity depending on the room and all of 625 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,800 a sudden you're not consistent. So how do you grow in 626 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:54,760 self-awareness? You've got to admit the fear. 627 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,200 Peter didn't grow because he denied Jesus. 628 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:02,800 He, he grew because he wept about it as he walked away 629 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:07,040 sobbing. I mean, if he was trying to like 630 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,080 blend in, I bet that didn't help, right? 631 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,440 So he's trying to blend in with people and he still is getting 632 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:14,600 recognized. And the second that he locks 633 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,080 eyes with Jesus and he realizes he was right about him. 634 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:19,920 Jesus was more right about him than he was about him. 635 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:21,560 Does that sound familiar in your life? 636 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,080 He weeps. And I just got to imagine this 637 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:32,000 strong, muscular fisherman walking out of a courtyard with 638 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,760 his head in his hand, sobbing, would probably get a lot of 639 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:36,160 attention. And he didn't care. 640 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:41,360 He didn't care. You have got to admit what 641 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:43,280 you're afraid of. And a lot of times we don't do 642 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,120 it because if we admit our fears, then somebody might use 643 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:48,560 it against us and then we won't feel safe. 644 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:55,160 But fearing man is a trap, and trusting the Lord is safety. 645 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,960 I told you it preaches well and it lives really difficult, but 646 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:02,760 if you can't name your fear, it's still going to guide you 647 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:04,920 and your obedience to God from the shadows. 648 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:07,080 So you've got to get it out there. 649 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,240 And then you've got to ask yourself what that fear says 650 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,120 about what you really believe about God. 651 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,560 And here's what I mean. Every deep fear that we carry 652 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:20,160 has an underlying belief. If you fear financial ruin, then 653 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,520 maybe you don't fully trust God as a provider. 654 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:26,480 If you fear being exposed as inadequate in any scenario, 655 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:29,640 maybe you think your worth is built on performance instead of 656 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:31,440 grace. Regardless of what you preach, 657 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,480 fear will reveal not just weakness, but whatever. 658 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,240 Your trust is misplaced in the Lord. 659 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,320 It's a good chance to fix your theology. 660 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:43,280 And the third thing I would say there is you just need to choose 661 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:46,760 between growth and shame. Peter's collapse did not mean 662 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,120 that he was finished. It just meant he needed to go 663 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:50,880 deeper. And the exposure wasn't 664 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:53,560 condemnation from Jesus. It was actually the grace of God 665 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,200 at work. And we're talking a lot about 666 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,960 the grace of God this year. Jesus loved Peter enough to know 667 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:01,320 that he needed to get this out of Peter's life. 668 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:04,160 And the only way to do that was for him to experience something 669 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:06,360 that was going to move him into a life change. 670 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:10,360 And how many of us have been there? 671 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,800 We don't have time to all get up here and share our stories. 672 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,600 But how many of us have had advice from somebody before? 673 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:17,480 And we're like, yeah, I probably should do that. 674 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:19,840 But we didn't do that. And then eventually we had a 675 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,159 consequence. And then we look back and we 676 00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:25,320 said, I really should have done that, right? 677 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:30,679 I mean, is that not all of us? So you can either hide the fact 678 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:34,040 that you failed and you can put it on replay and think about the 679 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,639 failure and think about the things you've done over and over 680 00:34:36,639 --> 00:34:42,600 and over and over again. Or you can use it as a launching 681 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:45,159 pad or springboard into your next chapter. 682 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,239 But fear is going to always reveal something in all of us at 683 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:50,120 one point. It's not a question of whether 684 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:51,560 it'll happen. It's just a question of what you 685 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:55,280 do with what it exposes. And once it exposes something, 686 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,840 you can either pack it away and keep it, or you can work your 687 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,760 way through it. Talked about what fear reveals, 688 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,400 but I also want to talk about what resurrection can restore in 689 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:10,440 your life. This series is going all the way 690 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:13,120 up to Resurrection Sunday. So excited. 691 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,000 The resurrection of Jesus is amazing because it opens the 692 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:18,920 doorway into new life. But that's not just a new 693 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,800 destination as an afterlife. It's new life here. 694 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,560 And that is something that so many Christians miss out on. 695 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,360 We'll be in John 21 in just a moment. 696 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,040 If you want to turn there, I want you to picture that 697 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:32,400 courtyard. And everywhere you've seen the 698 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,720 courtyard depicted in TV or movies, it's always night time, 699 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:37,280 right? So it's like shadowy and it's 700 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:39,520 cold and there's torches and it's flickering. 701 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:43,320 But where we're going to be in John 21 is a totally different 702 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:46,960 atmosphere because the air has got to be crisp. 703 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:48,520 I'm just trying to paint the picture for you. 704 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,080 It's out there. It's on the water, the sun's 705 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,720 coming up. And so the last place we saw 706 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:56,240 Peter with Jesus, there was chaos. 707 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,440 There was the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion ended up 708 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:02,320 happening. But at this point in John 21, 709 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,040 Jesus has now been raised from the dead. 710 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:10,040 The stone has been rolled away, and hope has flickered back to 711 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:12,880 life amongst the disciples. And something in Peter's heart 712 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,320 is still unsettled. Why? 713 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:18,080 Peter said he'd be willing to follow him anywhere. 714 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:20,680 And now that Jesus has been raised from the dead, you would 715 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:22,880 think Peter would say, all right, we're back. 716 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:25,000 We're so back, Jesus, where are we? 717 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:30,680 What are we doing now? Or maybe after his big failure, 718 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:34,400 there's a piece of him that said I already ran off at the mouth 719 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:39,280 and I wrote checks that my fisherman's license couldn't 720 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:43,480 cash. He already offered things to 721 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:48,680 Jesus that he couldn't do. So now where is he? 722 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:56,040 He's back on a Fisher boat. Resurrection has happened, but 723 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,960 for Peter, restoration has not yet been completed. 724 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:03,200 So believers, listen to me. For a lot of us who love Jesus, 725 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:06,840 we have been resurrected. We are heaven bound. 726 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,480 We are going to be with the Lord for eternity, but our 727 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,320 restoration is not complete yet. You want it to be complete. 728 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:19,240 John tells Peter the book of John tells us that Peter says 729 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:21,800 I'm going fishing. Well, fishing was his old life, 730 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,720 it was his old identity, and it was something that he knew how 731 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:27,160 to control before Jesus ever stepped into his life and made 732 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,480 everything unpredictable. So when everything becomes 733 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:32,960 uncertain, we usually drift back to what feels familiar. 734 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:35,320 Not necessarily because we're abandoning the faith, but 735 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:37,640 because we're unsure of who we are after we fail. 736 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:40,320 We talked about this not too long ago, but I want you to look 737 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:42,480 at it this way. Peter has now seen the risen 738 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:44,320 Christ. He carries the memory of that 739 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:47,520 courtyard and he remembers the rooster crowing 3 times. 740 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:50,360 How many times do you think Peter would think back and 741 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:53,320 remember what Jesus's eyes looked like when he locked eyes 742 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:55,520 that night? I bet you that was the most 743 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:59,320 haunting memory. And this is what's important to 744 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:02,080 know is that the resurrection of Jesus did not automatically 745 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:04,920 erase his shame. He knew that he had been 746 00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:06,440 forgiven. He knew that he was going to be 747 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,320 with the Lord. He knew that everything Jesus 748 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,360 said came to pass, but he was still carrying his shame. 749 00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:15,520 And so the resurrection created the possibility of something 750 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,440 new, but his heart still needed to be healed. 751 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:21,320 So he returns to the Sea of Galilee, to the same waters 752 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:25,440 where Jesus 1st called him. Jesus 1st called him and he 753 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:27,560 said, let down your nut. And he brings in all of these 754 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:29,440 fish. And Peter's response to Jesus 755 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:33,520 is, I'm a sinful man. But Jesus still chooses him, 756 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:36,160 right? Same water, same scenario. 757 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:40,920 And I think it's on purpose when the risen and resurrected Jesus 758 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,720 stands on the shore at Daybreak and he calls out to them, what 759 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:49,080 does he call out? It's a good thing. 760 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:50,720 It's a good thing that he was God in the flesh. 761 00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:55,040 Because for some of us, hey, remember when you said you'd 762 00:38:55,040 --> 00:39:00,160 never betray me? Remember when people said I was 763 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:01,240 dead? Look at me now. 764 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:04,200 I don't know. We would do this. 765 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:06,560 Hey, I still love you. I just, I just wanted to, I just 766 00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:08,080 wanted to to tease you a little bit. 767 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:13,560 What's he do? He says, let down your net. 768 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:18,520 But here's what's important. What is Jesus doing this time on 769 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:21,080 the shore? It's a beautiful moment, right? 770 00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:24,000 Because Peter jumps out of the boat. 771 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:25,720 He, like, runs through the water to get there. 772 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:27,480 He's not walking on water this time. 773 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:29,160 But what is Jesus doing on the shore? 774 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:33,360 He's making breakfast, right? He's making breakfast. 775 00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:35,680 And you all get real excited. See, Jesus loves breakfast. 776 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:37,600 Yeah, well, you don't have fish for your breakfast, so it's not 777 00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:40,680 the same thing. But you could. 778 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:46,760 Here's what I want you to know. In the Bible, there are certain 779 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:49,760 words that get translated the same way because I don't know if 780 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,840 you know this or not, but English is not like it's not the 781 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,760 best language that's ever existed, but it's what we got. 782 00:39:56,160 --> 00:40:03,360 So the same word for fire that's in that courtyard was translated 783 00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:07,040 as a charcoal fire. I'm going somewhere with this. 784 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:11,000 Any guesses on the only other place where charcoal fire is 785 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:15,120 listed in the scripture? Over breakfast. 786 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:19,640 Why does this matter? Because charcoal was very rare 787 00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:25,200 back then. You could not go and get and get 788 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:28,600 a bag that's got like a Mesquite flavour soaked into it, right? 789 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:32,520 Wood fires were what was common because wherever you travelled 790 00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:34,640 there were going to be trees, branches, stuff like that. 791 00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:37,040 You could gather it, burn it, it's done, scatter it, you're 792 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:39,840 good. Charcoal back then was something 793 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:41,600 you had to prepare for. Well, that makes sense in the 794 00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:44,560 courtyard because in the courtyard you're out there near 795 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,520 the, the, the priestly temple and everything that was 796 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:50,040 happening. So they would have all of these 797 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:53,440 needs to have charcoal and and prepare things the right way. 798 00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:55,320 They could prepare in advance because they knew their 799 00:40:55,320 --> 00:41:00,040 traditions. Jesus brings charcoal to the 800 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:02,840 waterfront. It was highly intentional for 801 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:05,720 him to re encounter Peter first of all, in the place where they 802 00:41:05,720 --> 00:41:08,280 re engaged. I, I'm just going to go on a 803 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:11,400 limb here and just tell you, if you've ever grilled with 804 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:13,680 charcoal, it's a different smell, isn't it? 805 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:17,560 I mean, I like it, but that smell gets in your clothes, 806 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:19,120 right? It'll get in your hair. 807 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,160 I mean, and, and it gets in the food that you cook. 808 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:24,160 I mean, it's, that's part of the appeal to it. 809 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:26,480 Cooking with charcoal is something different. 810 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,600 Do you not think while Peter's out there on the boat that he 811 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:34,280 catches A whiff at some point? When's the last time he smelled 812 00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:38,240 charcoal? Jesus perfectly recreates a 813 00:41:38,240 --> 00:41:43,640 scenario where he has met Jesus, where he's met Peter, combined 814 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:47,800 with where Peter denied him and confronts him with it. 815 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:52,120 It's beautiful. And so cooking this fish over 816 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:56,360 charcoal is not accidental. He's recreating the setting of 817 00:41:56,360 --> 00:42:00,760 Peter's failure with surgical precision for what he's about to 818 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:03,960 say to him. And Peter thinks he's got a 819 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:06,320 reunion with Jesus here. He's about to have his identity 820 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:09,400 resurrected. This one man who insisted on his 821 00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:12,800 loyalty to Jesus and then collapsed under fear is now 822 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,480 standing in front of the risen Christ with nothing left to 823 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:17,240 prove. Well, you already know that I 824 00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:19,800 couldn't do what I promised. You've seen the best and the 825 00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:21,600 worst of me. What's next? 826 00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:25,360 And before I read the Scripture in John 21, we'll be in verse 827 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,080 15. I want to speak to everyone of 828 00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,680 us because I think most of us experience a kind of internal 829 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:34,040 death whenever we fail publicly or even privately. 830 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:37,160 Sometimes we assume that our usefulness has expired and we 831 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:39,120 know Jesus still loves us and he's still going to take us 832 00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:42,240 home. But we just imagine that the 833 00:42:42,240 --> 00:42:45,120 best version of ourselves existed before the failure. 834 00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:48,840 No, no, no, the best version of yourself exists after your 835 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:52,120 resurrection. So even when you believe in the 836 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:55,360 resurrection of Jesus, theologically, a lot of us doubt 837 00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:58,360 the resurrection can reach our reputation or Our Calling or 838 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:00,360 even our self-image or sense of self. 839 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:03,760 The same power that raised Christ from the dead does not 840 00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:08,040 stop at the tomb. It reaches our shame, it reaches 841 00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:11,120 into our regret, and it reaches into the quiet places that we 842 00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,840 replay when we wish we had done something differently. 843 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,880 And Peter's story shows us that the resurrection of Jesus was 844 00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:20,360 not just a victory over death, but it was the beginning of 845 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:22,200 restoration for others who had failed him. 846 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:26,040 Listen to this. After breakfast, Jesus asked 847 00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:30,040 Simon Peter. Simon, son of John, do you love 848 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:34,000 me more than these? Yes, Lord, you know I love you. 849 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:37,880 I mean, married people. That feels like a trap, right? 850 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:40,120 You know, Do you love me? Yeah. 851 00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:44,720 Why? He says, you know I love you. 852 00:43:44,720 --> 00:43:48,560 And he says, then feed my lambs. Jesus repeated the question. 853 00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:50,200 Simon, son of John, do you love me? 854 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:54,120 Yes, Lord, you know I love you. He said, then take care of my 855 00:43:54,120 --> 00:43:56,720 sheep. And the third time he asked him, 856 00:43:56,720 --> 00:43:59,120 Simon, son of John, do you love me? 857 00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:04,600 Listen how honest the Bible is. Peter was hurt that Jesus asked 858 00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:08,400 the question 1/3 time as if Jesus owed him anything. 859 00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:11,800 He said, Lord you know everything. 860 00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:15,160 You know that I love you. And Jesus said then feed my 861 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:19,400 sheep. I tell you the truth, when you 862 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:21,640 were young you were able to do as you liked. 863 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:24,160 You dressed yourself, you went wherever you wanted to go. 864 00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:28,080 But when you're old, you'll stretch out your hands and 865 00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:30,280 others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go. 866 00:44:31,240 --> 00:44:33,680 Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would 867 00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:36,720 glorify God. And then Jesus told him, follow 868 00:44:36,720 --> 00:44:40,160 me. Do you see after three denials, 869 00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:43,360 he gives him 3 affirmations that your job is still to feed my 870 00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:47,000 sheep. And to the same disciple Jesus 871 00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:49,080 had. Peter had said I'd go with you 872 00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:50,520 even to the death, and then he couldn't. 873 00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:53,960 He then said, and by the way, here's what you're going to have 874 00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:56,080 to head towards when it's time to go. 875 00:44:56,960 --> 00:44:58,360 Now he's ready for the information. 876 00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:01,880 Now he's been through something. And when Jesus says feed my 877 00:45:01,880 --> 00:45:04,880 sheep three times, he's not trying to reopen the wound, he's 878 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:08,840 healing it. That repetition is on purpose. 879 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:11,800 The resurrection of Jesus does not just forgive Peter's 880 00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:13,720 failure, it reestablishes his calling. 881 00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:16,560 What's the Scripture say? The gifts and the calling of the 882 00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:19,400 Lord, they are irrevocable. They cannot be taken aback. 883 00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:21,800 They're without repentance. Whatever your translation says, 884 00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:24,240 if God has called you to something, you may mitigate the 885 00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:26,560 circumstances. You may get something's right 886 00:45:26,560 --> 00:45:28,680 and something's wrong. But if he's called you to 887 00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:30,440 something, he doesn't take his call back. 888 00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:32,680 We would. We do it all the time. 889 00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:36,440 You're my best friend. We'll be together forever and 890 00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:37,760 we're like, well, never mind, you hurt me. 891 00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:40,480 And then we move on. And God never does that. 892 00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:45,800 That's what resurrection does. It doesn't pretend that the 893 00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:48,040 denial never happened. But the man who once said, I 894 00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:51,120 don't know him is now entrusted with caring for the very people 895 00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:55,520 that Jesus loves the most. I remember back in the early 896 00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:59,680 years of being the youth pastor, we, we took the, the, the teens 897 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:02,600 on many a trip and we used to go to something called Winterfest. 898 00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:05,080 And it's not to be confused with Winter Jam. 899 00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:08,440 Winterfest was at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. 900 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:10,320 It's this big concert. I don't know if they still do 901 00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:13,720 it, but we were having issues with the old van at that point. 902 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,840 And this van, sometimes when you were like driving it and you 903 00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:18,960 were easing on the gas, it would just do this like kind of 904 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:22,000 lurching thing. And, and I kept saying, hey, I'm 905 00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:23,480 not a mechanic, but this feels weird. 906 00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,560 And so I drive down there no problem. 907 00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:30,760 We're at Winterfest and man, I'm not a night owl, but Winterfest 908 00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:32,600 goes till midnight. You bring in the new year. 909 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:35,360 And so the teenagers, they've all got their noisemakers, 910 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:37,800 really. It's quite a Crucible to 911 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:41,160 survive. But if you can, I'm sure there 912 00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:44,040 are treasures in heaven for it. Not only are you hearing like 913 00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:46,640 skillet singing monster at midnight, but you've got 914 00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:49,240 somebody blowing an air horn on this side and somebody screaming 915 00:46:49,240 --> 00:46:50,400 over here. And everybody's got their 916 00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:52,520 FaceTime and their their friends and stuff. 917 00:46:52,520 --> 00:46:55,360 And anyway, it's chaotic. And we would stay until about 918 00:46:55,360 --> 00:46:57,920 12:15 and then we say, OK, guys, time to go. 919 00:46:58,160 --> 00:46:59,320 They're like, but everybody else is here. 920 00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:01,800 Yep, Yep, they are time to go back to the hotel. 921 00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:07,000 So we get in the van and we're getting ready to leave, and I'm 922 00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:11,800 pulling this big white van out of a sea of big white vans out. 923 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:14,480 And as I'm turning to the right, there's this blue car. 924 00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:18,280 And as I'm easing on the gas, it lurches and I hear it. 925 00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:24,360 I hear. And all the kids, so gracious, 926 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:31,080 what do they do? Oh, Cassie turns around. 927 00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:34,080 Cassie earned the nickname the prison warden while we were 928 00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:35,640 there. She turned around and she was 929 00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:39,280 like, shut it, everyone. They didn't even say, yes, 930 00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:44,160 ma'am, they're quiet. I don't know what to do here. 931 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:45,880 I'm not going to sit here and wait all night. 932 00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:48,840 So I'm not going to not leave a note. 933 00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:52,480 But I also don't want to leave a note where I'm like admitting 934 00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:54,440 full guilt or whatever. I don't know what the proper 935 00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:56,880 protocol is here. So I write this note and I leave 936 00:47:56,880 --> 00:48:00,720 it there and they don't call. And I come back and I tell 937 00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:03,920 Pastor Tom about what happened. And he said, well, what did you 938 00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:06,480 leave on the note? And I said, call me about what 939 00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:12,560 happened. And I signed my name and I put 940 00:48:12,560 --> 00:48:15,280 my phone number. Pastor Marsha comes out of her 941 00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:17,840 office, she's laughing. And she said, you might have 942 00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:20,280 just broke up a marriage. And I went, what? 943 00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:31,200 Why do I share this with you? By the way? 944 00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:32,960 They did call and they said it's barely a scratch. 945 00:48:32,960 --> 00:48:35,200 You're fine. So we were, we were fine. 946 00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:40,280 I thought for sure that they weren't going to let me drive 947 00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:44,480 the van again or it would be some time, but they did. 948 00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:46,760 We went on many adventures with the youth group. 949 00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:50,400 I think I'm just wired to believe that once I fail in 950 00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:53,480 front of somebody that they're done with me for whatever 951 00:48:53,480 --> 00:48:55,040 reason. That's a lie that I picked up as 952 00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:58,360 I was growing up, that people expect me to make every decision 953 00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:02,040 the right way, to be the most godly person, to be able to say 954 00:49:02,040 --> 00:49:04,760 things the right way, to be the fastest, to apologize if I have 955 00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:06,680 to. And I don't know, man, I'm made 956 00:49:06,680 --> 00:49:09,240 out of flesh. And so I'm not always the 957 00:49:09,240 --> 00:49:12,120 fastest to do these things, but I was still trusted with it. 958 00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:15,120 And do you know what that did that brought me closer to Pastor 959 00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:17,680 Tom? I started to feel a little 960 00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:19,760 freer. Maybe I can, maybe I can make a 961 00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:21,920 mistake around you. Maybe this will be OK. 962 00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:24,800 And I want you to know it's the same thing with the Lord. 963 00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:28,000 When you realize that you can make an honest mistake, that you 964 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:30,640 can have a failure, and that God wants to resurrect something in 965 00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:33,520 your life, it will actually draw you closer to Him. 966 00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:36,280 You can't do anything to make him love you less, but you can't 967 00:49:36,280 --> 00:49:38,160 do anything to make him love you more either. 968 00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:42,320 But you can grow your own intimacy with Him if you're 969 00:49:42,320 --> 00:49:43,560 willing to speak these things out. 970 00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:47,040 A lot of us believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but we 971 00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:49,160 assume that certain parts of us are still buried. 972 00:49:50,560 --> 00:49:52,400 I just want you to know that's not humility. 973 00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:54,640 That is just your shame disguising itself as being 974 00:49:54,640 --> 00:49:58,120 realistic. So Peter could have stayed in 975 00:49:58,120 --> 00:50:01,840 that mindset, but he let love replace his assumptions. 976 00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:05,120 And so we have to first let Grace redefine us rather than 977 00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:08,840 letting failure label us. I shared this one time, but I 978 00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:11,400 mean, I was meeting a new mentor and I was talking and through 979 00:50:11,400 --> 00:50:13,120 some of my greatest failures in the past. 980 00:50:13,120 --> 00:50:15,560 And at the end of it, he said, you know, you you could have 981 00:50:15,560 --> 00:50:18,200 told me who you were without talking about what you did 19 982 00:50:18,200 --> 00:50:20,960 years ago. And I said, yeah, but I but I 983 00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:23,880 wanted you to know everything. And he said, I don't care about 984 00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:30,000 what you did 19 years ago, but you know why I did it? 985 00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:32,640 Because I was afraid that one day he might find out I did 986 00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:35,200 something awful 19 years ago, and then he won't want to be in 987 00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:37,280 my life anymore. It's the same baggage. 988 00:50:39,760 --> 00:50:45,040 So what do you do? You have to believe that you can 989 00:50:45,040 --> 00:50:48,400 redefine yourself, not by your failure, but by the resurrected 990 00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:52,600 power of Jesus. I once was lost, but now I'm 991 00:50:52,600 --> 00:50:54,600 found. You don't walk around and say 992 00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:57,200 for 20 years I was lost. Oh, I'm so sorry. 993 00:50:57,200 --> 00:50:58,560 Do you know Jesus? Well, I know him now. 994 00:50:58,560 --> 00:51:01,200 I just, I want you to know how awful my life was before then. 995 00:51:01,880 --> 00:51:07,000 Why let grace redefine you instead of your failure and then 996 00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:12,240 accept the responsibility again. Don't just accept the 997 00:51:12,240 --> 00:51:14,240 forgiveness, accept the responsibility. 998 00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:17,560 What does Jesus call you to do after your failure? 999 00:51:17,680 --> 00:51:19,640 I can't answer that. That's a conversation for the 1000 00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:22,440 two of you all to have. But for Peter, it was feed my 1001 00:51:22,440 --> 00:51:24,840 sheep, but I failed. Feed my sheep. 1002 00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:28,440 Yeah, but I I ran off with the mouth. 1003 00:51:28,480 --> 00:51:33,600 Feed my sheep. Grace won't erase your past. 1004 00:51:33,840 --> 00:51:35,320 Sorry to tell you that. I've already asked. 1005 00:51:36,520 --> 00:51:40,080 It can redeem it, though. I just got one more scripture I 1006 00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:41,120 want to share with you this morning. 1007 00:51:41,120 --> 00:51:43,200 Peter's story also doesn't end on that beach. 1008 00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:46,560 It doesn't end in shame. I want to give you some words 1009 00:51:46,560 --> 00:51:49,840 out of Peter's own mouth. In First Peter chapter 5, years 1010 00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:52,760 after that charcoal fire on the shoreline, Peter writes A 1011 00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:55,480 believer, a letter to believers who are suffering under real 1012 00:51:55,480 --> 00:51:57,680 persecution. And when I say that, I don't 1013 00:51:57,680 --> 00:52:00,200 mean dealing with awkward conversations for the gospel. 1014 00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:02,960 They're dealing with open hostility, loss of property, 1015 00:52:02,960 --> 00:52:04,840 jobs, threats, in some cases death. 1016 00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:08,720 And Peter writes these words to them in First Peter chapter 5, 1017 00:52:09,600 --> 00:52:12,560 verse 6. Humble yourselves under the 1018 00:52:12,560 --> 00:52:15,280 mighty power of God and at the right time, He'll lift you up an 1019 00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:17,000 honor. How did Peter know that? 1020 00:52:17,880 --> 00:52:21,520 Because at the right time, Jesus lifted him up again. 1021 00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:24,960 Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you. 1022 00:52:25,400 --> 00:52:28,080 Sounds easier said than done, but at one point he realized he 1023 00:52:28,080 --> 00:52:30,400 hadn't given all his worries and cares to the Lord. 1024 00:52:31,480 --> 00:52:34,080 Stay alert. Watch out for your great enemy, 1025 00:52:34,080 --> 00:52:36,120 the devil. He prowls around like a roaring 1026 00:52:36,120 --> 00:52:38,880 lion, looking for someone to devour. 1027 00:52:40,240 --> 00:52:43,120 How did he know that he had been attacked? 1028 00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:46,320 Stand firm against Him and be strong in your faith and 1029 00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:49,240 remember that your family of believers all over the world is 1030 00:52:49,240 --> 00:52:50,600 going through the same kind of suffering. 1031 00:52:50,600 --> 00:52:56,760 You are verse 10. In His kindness, God has called 1032 00:52:56,760 --> 00:52:59,840 you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. 1033 00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:03,080 So after you suffered a little while, He will restore, support 1034 00:53:03,080 --> 00:53:06,840 and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation. 1035 00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:10,160 If you didn't hear anything else I said today, I hope you heard 1036 00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:13,120 that after you suffered for a little while. 1037 00:53:13,400 --> 00:53:15,840 Jesus can restore and support and strengthen you. 1038 00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:19,000 But you've got to release the past and you've got to be 1039 00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:20,640 willing to grab a hold of what he's got for you. 1040 00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:22,960 Think about who's writing those words. 1041 00:53:22,960 --> 00:53:25,480 The man who once followed at a distance now says, Give all your 1042 00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:28,520 worries and cares to God. And the man who once trembled at 1043 00:53:28,520 --> 00:53:31,520 somebody asking him if he was a follower, now says, stand firm. 1044 00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:35,200 The disciple who went away weeping bitterly now says, after 1045 00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:37,160 you suffered, he's going to restore you. 1046 00:53:37,520 --> 00:53:39,320 Because this was life experience. 1047 00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:42,000 It was lived and experienced. It wasn't just theology that he 1048 00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:45,000 was throwing out at people. He's speaking what we would call 1049 00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:47,560 a testimony. And I want to encourage you 1050 00:53:47,560 --> 00:53:49,920 because the Scripture Book of Revelation says we overcome by 1051 00:53:49,920 --> 00:53:51,960 the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. 1052 00:53:52,240 --> 00:53:55,440 If you're too scared to lay out your fears and the things that 1053 00:53:55,440 --> 00:53:58,280 you've gone through, you really don't have a hope of making an 1054 00:53:58,280 --> 00:54:01,440 impact in somebody's life. But it's part of how God redeems 1055 00:54:01,440 --> 00:54:05,200 the failures of your past is to pull meaning out of them today 1056 00:54:05,400 --> 00:54:07,320 because you use them to help someone else grow. 1057 00:54:09,200 --> 00:54:12,080 Tradition tells us that Peter eventually faced execution in 1058 00:54:12,080 --> 00:54:15,920 Rome under Emperor Nero. It's not in the Scripture, but 1059 00:54:15,920 --> 00:54:17,280 that is what church history says. 1060 00:54:17,280 --> 00:54:20,800 And it says that after he was sentenced to be crucified, he 1061 00:54:20,800 --> 00:54:23,040 said, I'm not worthy to die in the same way as my Lord. 1062 00:54:23,040 --> 00:54:25,360 So would you crucify me upside down instead? 1063 00:54:26,280 --> 00:54:30,000 He came a long distance, didn't he, from I don't even know the 1064 00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:33,800 man. All of a sudden he was a new 1065 00:54:33,840 --> 00:54:36,400 person. That's not personal growth. 1066 00:54:37,240 --> 00:54:40,400 That's resurrection power. Living in Peter, imagine what 1067 00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:42,680 resurrection power can do inside of you. 1068 00:54:42,680 --> 00:54:48,040 And we're just getting started. This week we saw failure and 1069 00:54:48,040 --> 00:54:49,240 fear. Next week, we're going to look 1070 00:54:49,240 --> 00:54:52,560 at failure and doubt as we turn to Thomas, another disciple who, 1071 00:54:52,560 --> 00:54:55,400 if we're honest, might be labeled as disqualified. 1072 00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:58,520 But I'm glad that Peter wasn't cancelled in his pursuit of 1073 00:54:58,520 --> 00:55:00,400 following the Lord. Aren't you? 1074 00:55:01,320 --> 00:55:05,480 You're not cancelled either. It didn't disqualify Peter. 1075 00:55:05,480 --> 00:55:08,640 It just humbled him. And so if you feel like you've 1076 00:55:08,640 --> 00:55:11,280 been almost disqualified, I want you to know this is about people 1077 00:55:11,280 --> 00:55:14,600 in the Bible who barely made it. Welcome to the island of Misfit 1078 00:55:14,600 --> 00:55:17,040 Toys. Let's grow together as we head 1079 00:55:17,040 --> 00:55:18,480 towards Resurrection Sunday. Amen.